How would you change Apple's unibody MacBook / MacBook Pro?
By Darren Murph 
posted November 21st 2008 7:02PM
posted November 21st 2008 7:02PM
posted November 21st 2008 7:02PM
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BATTERY LIFE.
To increase mobility I personally would give away the optical drive for a second internal battery.
I hardly remember anytime using the optical drive during the last two years in business with my MBP...
When traveling a MATTE display option is a must. Because of that (and the backlight display) I previously purchased a MBP beside my MB.
Further doing a presentation or group-work with a glossy display is impossible as only one person will see the screen content in the original colors.
A second HD or firewire on the MB is no topic for me as I'm not working in graphics but I understand some ask for it.
I've had my new MacBook for a couple of weeks now and love it. The backlit keyboard is a thoughtful upgrade and a blessing having just migrated from the previous MacBook. The touchpad takes a bit of getting used to... I actually prefer using a wireless Mighty Mouse as I kept 'missing' the areas that I wanted to click on and select. I'm sure it's user error, but I couldn't get a handle on it 100% of the time so that was a bit frustrating. The one thing that has surprised me (negatively) is how easy the aluminum body gets marked up... I noticed a sharp nick on the side of my MacBook and didn't even realize that I had caused it... then when I was trying out a new laptop lock the insertion point on the MacBook for the lock also got scuffed up. I'll just have to treat my new treasure with kid gloves, I guess... but I wouldn't change it for the world, best laptop I've ever had.
Matte screen hands down... not as a standard, but as an option... some ppl use their comps for veiwing movies and internet stuff which the glass really enhances color and crispness.. but I prefer matte because I do photo and graphics stuff and gloss makes me want to shoot myself because i never really get what I see since there is a slight distortion of color with the gloss.
I also dislike the keyboard, and blue or red keyboard lighting would be ideal, the white is a little too harsh when you have to do extended work in the dark. Plus, and again this is a preferance thing, I dont like the look or the feel of the black punch out keys. I also feel that there is too much light spill with the black keyboard keys.
4x USB 3.0 would be amazing!!!
Get rid of mini display port! use hdmi or dvi... Get rid of the glass track pad its annoying as hell... no glass screen... and the light sensor on the old pro was better this one is sooo annoying!!! ALSO GET THE OLD KEYS BACK THESE KEYS ARE CRAP!!!
Nobody has anything to say about the battery life? I get about 2 hours with the display and keyboard light all the way down, browsing the internet in class. The class is 3 hours, and I'm disappointed to have to lug my power adapter to class with my $2,500 laptop. Yes I already calibrated the battery, yet I haven't noticed much of an improvement. I'd love a recall on the batteries not performing at the claimed 5 hours. I don't care if they said that was for simple Text Editing tests with out WiFi, 2 hours (a 60% decrease) from the 5 hours apple boasts about is offending and atrocious.
I just bought d MBP, 2 weeks ago, i'm a new MAC convert, but have used 6 laptops over the last 15 years. I've been using XP PRO and Leopard, no issues so far. Love the glossy screen and the track pad. I also own a i-phone 3g 16GB, loved the damn thing.
Only change the ports to HDMI, eSATA & minimum 4 USB's. at least install a card reader. Battery could have been better as there's no option given for longer life battery life.
As a new user I think only old MAC addicts are pissed of with these features, more than anyone else. But to new converts like myself, they seem to be no issues. I have a whole bunch of friends changing to MBP's now. They are also in love with it.
well since the DVD drive is SATA, i heard it can be removed and replaced with a HD instead. I was thinking that although I don't think their is such thing as this product however couldn't you replace it with a slot loading, SATA Blu-Ray drive?
Silver or blue keys is all that I would change. Love the trackpad and the new screen. Hate the black keys.
blue? wtf no, what wrong with the black keys i think it is good contrast to the white backlight and silver body
I like the system thus far overall but I have a few gripes:
1 - Better Bootcamp drivers. I've had to download updated LAN drivers, nVidia Drivers, and even Wireless drivers from the chipset manufacturers directly. Audio is cracky under BootCamp and many people have reported the same issues. Also the trackpad drivers are a joke for Windows. The keyboard backlighting and other features seems to work ok but they definitely aren't synching up with Windows Power management features. Under Windows I get about 1.5 hours of usage on battery power.
2 - Outputs: Mini-display port MAY be the future but the here and now says HDMI!! At the least, how about getting some converter cables going here. Can't hook up to my HDTV.
3 - How about including the remote control instead of charging 20-30 bucks for it!!
I personally haven't had any problems with the keyboard or any keys popping off - yet. This is my first Apple product EVER so the verdict is still out from my perspective but no major issues thus far. All my apps seem to work, and the dual boot option is great - though I spend most of my time in vista-64.
Couple more things now that i think about.
1 - If the MacBook wants to be considered a serious business machine, then it needs to have some form of biometric security - either a fingerprint reader (if it can be blended tastefully into the new chassis) or the new eye-scanner software that Lenovo and a few others are implementing.
2 - Firewire 800???? Wasn't it announced that firewire was dead? An eSata port for sure and if possible a firmware upgradeable USB port seeing as how USB 3.0 is not too far out there.
3 - Matte screen option (without paying extra for either choice)
I recently bought a MBP 15 inch around Christmas... After using it for a few days the glossy screen did become an issue. I didn't think glossy would be that bad, I was wrong.. also when watching movies in dark environments I notice a strange lighting effect coming from the bottom on the screen. I guess people have been writing about this, and they are calling it "the stage light leak". Because the LED light leak looks like lights on a stage. I returned the first one and the second one was worse than the first. That really sucked!!! You would think if you pay over 2 grand for a laptop you would get a good quality screen. I than got a refund and I am going to get a Imac 24 inch. I need a computer for work and I am not going to wait around for apple to figure out glossy sucks for laptops, and there screens obviously having tech issues. I am going to buy one when apple goes back to matte, and changes the out dated 80's black edge and black key board... Sorry Apple, didn't improve much from the old MBP in fact in some ways it's worse off. two thumbs down on the new MBP.
Needs Matte screen Option, Black keys are ugly, More inputs HDMI, quad CPU, and Blu-ray option.
My Opinion:
The glossy screen can be an issue, and you must accommodate for it but as far as colour accuracy:
COLOUR ACCURACY:
As a Graphic Designer and Retouch Artist, I understand the need for a colour accurate display, but I have two points to make:
1. No laptop display has a remotely good viewing angle, glossy or matte, and what use is colour accuracy if, when u shift
slightly in your seat, the colour changes dramatically. Anyone needing colour accuracy will use a reliable external
display
2. A matte screen is matte and has no glare because is has a diffuse layer over the screen which not only diffuses light
as is hits the screen, it diffuses light coming out of the screen, reducing saturation and contrast.
While people say that glossy screens have too much saturation and contrast, if you use are at all serious about
colour, you will using a hardware calibrator which will reduce the saturation to be accurate.
In this instance, glossy is better, because your calibrator can reduce the saturation, whereas with a matte
screen the saturation can only be increased to a certain point, which may not be accurate.
Sometimes it can get a bit reflective when viewing dark things, but I can live with that.
Construction:
Love the unibody design, and black edging.
The keyboard is nice, but I wish the light didn't leak out the sides.
I really like the trackpad, the extra space is brilliant.
Ports:
I only miss Firewire 400 because my Apple Cinema Display has a hub and cable and the cable now just hangs.
HDMI would have been great, or at least an adapter to dvi.
Blu-Ray would have been good too, but only Sony's have Blu-Ray at the moment so... And Blu-Ray discs are very expensive.
And I don't experience this Stage Light Leak.
And I love the curved sides on the top and bottom. Makes picking up much easier.
Bought a 15'' MBP last week, wonderful piece of kit. My only beef with the keys is that they are slightly spongier than my crusty old macbook. I'll get use to them though.
/is happy
I should first mention that i'm not a new mac user; own an imac and replaced a white macbook i had for a year and a half with this one.
iLove and appreciate my 1 mnth old MBP 15" except for a couple things: the usb ports are too close! not a problem if u have input devices such as mice/keyboard or usb cables in there, but try these and a thumb drive thats just a millimeter perhaps larger than the head of an ordinary usb cable- not possible... my other issue is the ambient light sensor. I would put that back near the keyboard. It has proven to be impractical/ineffective on many occasions because of its position... sometimes during the day i get it to light up all day if i dont turn it down (the keyboard), or when the lights go off in the night, it would dim off also (yes the keyboard)... now that defeats the whole purpose since its supposed to get brighter. The screen seems to respond more accurately since the sensor is next to the screen, but being the same sensor for the keyboard, it doesnt always work right for the keyboard.
a minor gripe would be the battery seems to be a bit shorter than that of my old white macbook which sometimes gave me 7-8 hours
on light work and 4 hours on wireless productivity. i know my 7200 rpm hard drive cuts down an hour naturally, but we're talking about more than an hour shorter here, probably 2 hrs shorter. But apart from that, honestly... it was a great investment in the new macbook pro, i would leave everything else just as is.. i love the *new* look.. i never have a problem with change that is not destructive; i say to myself "this is the macbook pro now, forget what has been, what was, this is the standard now", and i just move on with that mindset. The screen does not bother me as i thought it would. My imac screen is more like my mirror, now thats annoying- but the macbook pro is alright; as a matter of fact a matte screen would be boring with this new design. talk about thinness- wow! unexpected! i thought my dad's last generation MBP was thin relative to my macbook at the time.. but this is very thin... at first glance some ppl think its a macbook air, then they realise its bigger and slightly thicker... good job Apple... except for my gripes off course.